Migrations
by AT45678
Summary: Starts straight after Teen Titans Things Change and see's Gar Logan decide to leave the tower in order to grow and evolve and become a man. In the process, learning more about who and what he is, and what he must represent and defend.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was late in the night; a chilling cloudy darkness surrounded the tower of the Titans, secluded on its island in the center of San Francisco. It had passed midnight some time ago and all but one of the towers occupants were now quietly in slumber (or in one particular case, in an unconscious recharging state). However, the resident green-skinned shape-shifter of the Titans was far from restive.

Garfield Mark Logan, generally known to everyone else in his life as Beastboy, had been agonising over his thoughts for hours, desperately attempting to come to a decision. In fact, he had already made the decision, made it days ago really, but what was truly consuming his time and mind was working out how to act on his decision as well as building up the courage to carry it out.

The decision that he had come to was that he was going to leave the Teen Titans, the team of young heroes who had provided him with a purpose, a home and even a family for the past 4 years. The enormity of this decision weighed heavily on the young changeling's shoulders and had saddened him for the last few days though as always he had not displayed this sadness outwardly.

At this moment he was in the process of packing his things to leave, quite a task considering that his room would trump any other teenager's room in terms of its untidiness and complete lack of order. Beastboy was determined to put only his essential possessions into the black duffel bag that lay open and barely filled upon his unmade bed. So far he had managed to sort through all of the oddments that had been strewn across his floor. He had found only a few things which he chose to put into the duffel, but had filled several bin bags with pizza boxes, comics he no longer cared for, and clothes that had gone unwashed for so long that they wouldn't even be good enough to be sent to a charity shop. He was halfway through his desk now and as he tackled this task, he wrestled internally with the problem of whether it was worth announcing his departure to the group in the morning and hearing their reactions, whether they would argue for him to stay or, more likely and more saddening to Beastboy, they accepted his departure easily or even mocked his decision as a childish attempt to garner some attention from them.

As he continued with his task, his thoughts wandered over the events of the last few months. Their return from Tokyo, The tumultuous and ultimately short-lived relationship between his teammates Starfire and Robin, The joy and excitement when he believed that he had discovered Terra again and the gut-wrenching hurt when she failed to even recognise him and spurned him from her presence. The other Titans had not been particularly helpful in dealing with that last particular development, feeling that his assertion that Terra had returned was mostly just wishful thinking on his part. Their opinions on this matter were no doubt coloured by the fact that his absence had left them battling a particularly difficult creature without him. It had been able to assimilate the properties of any object which it touched, however Beastboy, upon his arrival at the fight, had quickly transformed into a Pterosaur and carried the creature into the air where it had no materials to work with. Beast had taken it high enough and then dropped it, giving Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin plenty of time to line up powerful shots on it...only dust had reached the ground. He had touched down again in human form ready to celebrate what he felt was a pretty smart move on his part.

"Alright! Great aim guys! Wonder what it was though?" he had exclaimed, approaching the others. Their icy stares led to the grin sliding off his face as he noticed that their uniforms were dirty and tattered, Cyborgs plating bore deep scratches and dents, and the others had several scrapes and bruises between them. He realised that he had been ignoring his duties since spotting Terra during their initial battle with the now extinct creature. He gulped, looked down at his shoes and began getting his apologies in order but before he had barely opened his mouth Robin cut him off.

"Raven, you feel strong enough to teleport us back to the tower?" She gave a terse nod and then he continued "let's go then but not Beastboy, he can make his own way back" he gave a hard glance at my frowning face "I'm sure you have the energy seeing as you've had most of the day off" he finished in a condescending tone. I opened my mouth to contradict this, but had no time as Ravens power instantly enveloped them and they were gone. Beastboy had only furrowed his brows further in confusion and contrition. He understood that the team had a right to be annoyed but they had not even waited for an explanation before ditching him far out in the woods that enclosed the northern edges of the city.

When he had made the flight home in the form of hawk, he entered the tower via the window of his own messy room. He soon resolved to find his friends, see if they were alright, apologise and then explain his absence. He set off and as he approached the central room he began to hear Robin speaking with Cyborg, he slowed instinctively as he could detect the seriousness in their tones, they seemed to be talking about him.

"I'm all for giving BB a piece of my mind about letting us down lately but are you serious about threatening his place on the team?" Cyborg was asking in a surprised voice.

"I'm not gonna kick him out just like that Cy" Robin replied tersely, and then with more passion "but he needs to know that we have a job that he can't ignore just because he sees a blonde Terra lookalike in the street. We both know that we were in a real tough spot before he turned up and with him there we ended it in no time! If he had been there from the beginning as the rest of us were then Starfire wouldn't be in the med center with Raven healing all her cuts and bruises as well as having to deal with her own sprained wrist". He heard Cyborg sigh before their conversation turned towards the origins of the creature and what its purpose had been.

These words hit Beastboy like two blows, both his female teammates were in the medical bay because he neglected his duties, injuries that he could have prevented, and what's more Robin considered this cause enough to exclude him from the Titans? Even in the light of the girls' injuries, this seemed harsh, not to say unprecedented. He contemplated the chasm that his life would become if he were no longer a Titan, he evaded thinking about this frightening prospect with the decision to go to the Med bay immediately to check on his two teammates and give them his earnest apology. He shifted into a squirrel so he could pass the central room doors at top speed and avoid the two male Titans realising that he had overheard them and soon he was at the doors of the Med bay where he shifted back to his human form.

He inhaled as he prepared to enter knowing he was probably going to face some deserved anger, the prospect of Raven being upset with him was by far the more daunting as she generally addressed him in a disparaging and condescending manner even when she was in a good mood. He did not relish facing her in a bad mood bearing injuries that could have been avoided were it not for his absence; however his guilt would not let him turn away, so he braced himself and entered. His animal heightened smell immediately picked up the slight odour of blood that was almost hidden by the usual rank smell of disinfectant that pervaded the medical bay.

Starfire was sitting up on the side of one of the beds with Raven standing in front of her. Starfire was mostly healed now but Raven's head was bent over Starfire's right arm, in the process of healing a gash across the Tameranian's knuckles. The realisation that it takes a lot to break her alien skin combined with the sight and smell of their injuries only served to double the young changeling's guilt.

Both of them looked up when Beastboy first entered the room. Starfire's reaction was to frown slightly and then glance away from him whilst Raven narrowed her eyes, pursed her lips, gave him a long, disdainful look before refocusing on her friend's hand.

Beastboy took a breath "how are you both?" he asked timidly.

Raven simply ignored him but Starfire answered in a neutral tone "I am mostly unharmed and will soon be fully healed thanks to friend Raven, though she herself has hurt her wrist but unfortunately she is unable to heal herself".

"Oh" was all Beastboy managed and after a few seconds pause in which neither girl deigned to look at him he continued in a rushed but earnest voice "I am so sorry I wasn't there, I knew you needed me and I let myself get distracted by other things. It seemed like it was the priority at the time but I had it mixed up, I should have been with you fighting against that thing from the beginning, so...I'm sorry". He took a few tentative steps towards them both as he said these words, Raven glanced at him but continued healing her friend with the same expression but Starfire gave him a long look and her expression seemed to soften towards him some. He could feel the tension had eased around her but not with Raven from whom the Green teenager could still sense hostility with his animal senses.

He was about to continue when Cyborg put his head round the door and in a serious tone addressed his green friend "BB, Robins called a team meeting about today, you need to be in the main room in 10 minutes". Cyborg's tone was formal, almost harsh and Beastboy nodded, sighing. The metallic teen next addressed Raven in a slightly kinder voice "if you and Star are up to it then he'd like you there as well" to which both girls gave small nods before Cyborg left the room.

Beastboy thought about speaking to the women again but thought better of it and decided, with a sigh as he left the med bay, to reiterate his apology and explain his absence in the meeting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Beastboy was sat in the middle of the common room sofa with his elbows on his knees and his eyes pointed down at the floor. His leader stood in front of him with his arms crossed, glaring at his green teammate. Cyborg was behind the sofa also with his arms crossed, mirroring the stern pose of Robin. Both female Titans were sitting on the far end of the sofa cross-legged. Starfire's expression displayed her unhappiness at the tension between her friends; her gentle nature did not relish the impending argument. She had not been particularly happy over the last few days anyway having had to see her relationship to Robin dissolve steadily after they had returned from Tokyo. Raven's expression was blank as it often was, as if she was disinterested in the whole situation.

"Well Beastboy"- Robin began but Beastboy cut him off in an impassioned rush.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there! I got caught up in some other stuff...I'm not saying that makes it alright because I should have been with you guys but..." he exhaled and then continued looking at Starfire and Raven "I wish I had been there to help you and I'm so sorry you got injured when I might have been able to prevent it". His manner was sincere and contrite. Starfire's face had softened completely as he went on and it was clear that she only wanted to exclaim her forgiveness and to rush over and give her animalistic friend one of her crushing embraces. Raven glanced at Beastboy but said nothing and her expression didn't change, though Beastboy sensed that her hostility towards him had ebbed slightly. He also heard a shift in Cyborgs stance behind him which suggested that his apology was appreciated by him as well. The only Titan who didn't show any reaction was Robin and it was to this young man that the other four now looked expectantly.

He uncrossed his arms quickly "apologies are all well and good Beastboy but it doesn't make it alright just because you say you're sorry" he paused and then went on in his harsh tone "I've had a couple of calls since we got back concerning what you were up to whilst we were getting our asses kicked by that thing".

All of the Titans in the room had their attention fixed on him now and Beastboy asked with some trepidation; "calls from who?"

"Whom" Raven muttered quietly from the other side of the sofa and Beastboy rolled his eyes feeling this wasn't the time to correct his grammar.

"Fine, whom called us?" he asked again. Raven merely sighed in exasperation.

"I got one from the local tabloid; they would like to know, as I would, why you were spotted hanging around at the pizza place and a pie diner in the middle of nowhere, whilst the rest of the team were struggling to defend the city?" He paused to glare at the emerald shape-shifter before continuing in an increasingly loud and sharp tone "they also asked me to comment on why a nearby carnival ground was completely wrecked today by a green T Rex for no obvious reason".

The others were looking at Beastboy questioningly now waiting for his explanation and Beastboy was ready to provide them with one. He didn't like the way Robin was making him look like he had just been lazing about whilst they had been fighting, "I was-"he began but was once again cut off.

"Whilst you're at it then you can also explain why the principal of central high school phoned up to complain that you were trespassing on the premises yesterday and today despite being told you weren't allowed. He told me that you were bothering a female student who made it clear that she didn't want to talk to you".

"Not back to this again" Cyborg sighed whilst shaking his head.

All of the titans looks were more accusatory now and Beastboy stood up to defend himself, arms splayed out "that girl is Terra, I know it, but something's happened to her memory-"

"Beastboy" Robin cut in once again in an angry tone "I asked the principal about the girl's records, she's an ordinary citizen! Been at that school for months since moving from Europe, normal parents with normal jobs and she has never displayed any form of extraordinary powers" he paused again and then through gritted teeth "you've been wasting your time harassing a normal teenage girl!

Beastboy looked around at his teammates, the severe, disciplinary glares of Cyborg and Robin, the disinterest and barely noticeable disdain on Raven's face, as well as the sympathetic, almost pitying eyes of Starfire. Beastboy began to feel upset that he was being put on the spot in this way, weren't they his team? His family? They had been through so much together, quite literally looked death in the face several times and during those trials and years hadn't he proved himself dependable? He had goofed around a lot sure, but that was just his way, trying to keep things good humoured, but when it had counted he had always proved himself. Holding his own against Trigon, Slade, Brother Blood, even when the Titans had been left in disarray after the attack of the new Brotherhood of Evil, he had formed a team of his own, tracked down the Brotherhood's base and led the charge against them. And yet he sat there as if he were a naughty child being told off by his parents and teachers. Didn't they know how much Terra had meant to him? How her sacrifice had saved them all? Yet they were dismissing what he believed immediately, as if he were playing some childish make-believe game.

He took a deep breath and spoke to them slowly and clearly in a voice full of earnest "look, I know it sounds a bit crazy after what happened to her but that's nothing new to us is it? I went to her grave today and her statue is now gone, just gone! And maybe her background does seem sound but I know that it's her!" he paused to look at them pleadingly, willing them to believe him.

"Then why does she have this solid background if she did come back?" Robin retorted "we can trace her back years, if she woke up missing her memory then how come she went to the ordeal of forging it, something she was never great at by the way, when she wouldn't have been aware that she had ever done anything that would require her to hide herself?"

"BB, you have to face the facts" Cyborg added in a forceful voice.

Beastboy's patience was finally wearing thin as they continued to treat him as if her were delusional. He whirled round to face his metallic friend "how about these facts Cy, my sense of smell is more powerful than any animal's, I can tell identical twins apart from 300 metres away with just my nose, as well as tell you which one didn't brush their teeth that morning" he paused to empathise his next words "that girls scent is the same as Terra's, not just similar but exactly the same! People can change their backgrounds all they want but they can't change their scent, I'm certain it's her!" He hoped this argument might convince them but he could tell that they doubted him still, when are they ever gonna stop doubting me? He thought to himself in despair.

Robin shifted his stance onto the other foot and Beastboy turned back in his direction, "so why then has she got this new perfect background then, you still haven't answered that question?"

"I wish I knew but it may have something to do with Slade" Beastboy said seriously, but rather than perking up in interest as he had expected Robin to do upon hearing his nemesis mentioned, he seemed to look even more irate.

"Beastboy, now you're just being pathetic and desperate, there's no proof that Slade is involved, you're only saying that because you think it will make Robin take your Terra theory seriously, just drop it" To Beastboy's surprise these last words had come from Raven, her voice had been laden with annoyance and exasperation.

"No I'm not!" Beastboy cried in outrage, "that's what happened at the carnival ground, I ran into him there when I was first looking for Terra, we went there on a d- one time" Beastboy swallowed over the lump in his throat as he remembered that night. It had been the happiest night he could imagine until Slade had appeared and shattered that happiness. It was that night that Terra had revealed her betrayal to Beastboy. He quickly got over himself and continued quickly, "I talked to him there and he knew about Terra, he was taunting me, telling me maybe she didn't want to remember because – well, I fought him but it turned out to be one of his damn robots again".

"Slade used Terra as a weapon against us friend Beastboy, surely if he knew of her return then he would try to abduct her or recruit her once again to serve his cause" Starfire's voice was peaceful and sympathetic. Beastboy couldn't find a valid response to her point though.

"He was just trying to get under your skin Beastboy, he must have noticed you were missing from our fights with that mystery monster, tracked you, figured out your pointless goose chase and decided to mess with your head for his amusement" Robin's voice was more forceful now, clearly wanting to end the discussion and dismiss Beastboy's arguments once and for all.

"But he called her Terra; we hardly ever really know what that maniac is pushing for until his plans are already in place, who knows what angle he's trying this time? But if he is involved then that might explain where that bogus background came from, Why waste his time and one of his robots just for his own amusement?"

It was Cyborg who answered "Like you said Beastboy, he's a maniac, and you said yourself that he was taunting you, no doubt trying to make you react and cause embarrassment for us in the media as well as encouraging you to keep pursuing this thing instead of coming to help us against the creature".

"And you've rarely needed encouragement to pursue nonsense or cause embarrassment Beastboy, Slade had an easy target with those aims in mind", Raven added in her standard bored, monotonous tone.

This last remark stung Beastboy, once again making him feel as though he were a naughty child whose teachers had called in his parents to have a talk about his bad behaviour. He looked at each of them, the only sympathy coming from Starfire, and that had rolled over into pity now that they seemed to believe he was imagining the Terra situation, or worse, just making the whole thing up.

He sank back down into the sofa and rested his elbows on his knees again, feeling frustrated and let down by his friends. It was as if he was that awkward 12 year old kid again, desperately trying to find trust, respect, approval, just a place where he mattered and could just...belong. He had left the Doom Patrol in order to find those things and he thought he had succeeded when he became one of the Titans. Turns out, very little had changed after all.

Robin took the green teenager sitting down in silence as an acknowledgement of defeat, and so he began lecturing him sternly.

"Beastboy, if you wish to continue as a member of this team then it is time that you showed more dedication and commitment. Your actions today displayed neither of these things. For Christ's sake Beastboy, it's time to grow up!" These words startled Beastboy and he looked at his leader again who continued, his eyes fixed on the young changeling "I am placing you on review, you're not kicked out of the Titans...yet, but you are not a full member until you have convinced me...all of us... that you are going to change. Mistakes like the last couple of days cannot continue if we are to remain an effective fighting unit, and especially not if you wish to continue to be a member of this team".

These words rang through Beastboy's mind like a physical blow, even though he had been expecting them sooner or later after what he had overheard earlier. Raven did not seem surprised either though it was always difficult to tell with her. Starfire did audibly gasp however so at least one other person had not been prepared for this. The frustration boiling in the changeling's gut was now turning to anger. Yes, he had been absent, but he had still arrived and helped them to win the fight, sometimes he had made mistakes like with Raven's mirror and corrupting Cyborg's AI but he had always fixed them, and as far as he could tell, he had always come through for them in the end, had always raised his game when they truly needed him. Nor was he the only one to have made mistakes, Robin himself had betrayed them far worse than he when he took on the guise of Red X and actually fought against his own teammates, now the armour he used had been stolen providing the Titans with another threat to the city's security, all because Robin had turned his back on the team.

Robin was concluding his lecture now but Beastboy wasn't really listening, he picked up bits about less pranks, no more late mornings and more time spent on training, fewer distractions and greater focus would be expected from him. But he was done talking now; if he wasn't going to say exactly what they wanted to hear then he knew that there was little reason to say anything else.

"I'm expecting real improvements from you Beastboy, the way things were just aren't gonna cut it anymore. It was fun sometimes but things change and we have to adapt to that. All of us" with those words Robin strode out wordlessly, shortly followed by Cyborg. Raven pulled her hood up and sank into the floor, teleporting back to her room, all without a word. Starfire left a few seconds later, Beastboy could tell that she had stayed until last in order to say something encouraging to her friend to brighten his downcast look, but it seemed words had failed her. As she passed her green teammate on the way to the door, she brushed lightly along his shoulder and through his hair with her hand, a simple show of affection to let him know she cared about him. She hoped it somewhat conveyed the feelings of sympathy and consolation that she had been unable to find the words to express.

The gesture had brought a small feeling of warmth to the young changeling. But only for a moment and he stayed sat down, still in the posture he had been in for most of the argument, face pointed at the ground, elbows resting on his knees. Robin's last words were still turning over in his head.

_Things Change... _

Was it mere coincidence that he was echoing the last words Terra had spoken to him only a few hours earlier that day.

_Things change Beastboy..._

Things certainly seemed to be changing, or perhaps what was bothering him was that he was now seeing the way things actually were, how he was truly viewed by those most important to him. He felt a great welling up of despair but he smothered it as quickly as it had arisen, he was not gonna become that self-pitying, eager-to-please child that arrived here close to 4 years ago and ran into the titans during an alien invasion.

_Things change..._

They had both been right; things do change and Beastboy now understood that he would be changing with them. He felt like the warm, safe, familiar aura of his Titans family had been punctured and could not be repaired. No matter how sad this realisation made him, he knew there was no turning away from it or denying it, even though he wished he could. He pondered now, how things were going to change, how he would change also and where it would all end up.

_Beastboy, it's time to grow up!_

The words Robin had spoken early came back to him and he could now see the truth in them, but what was he going to grow into and more importantly...could he really do it here?

He stood and began walking back to his room, these thoughts still whirling inside his mind. He resolved to make no rash decisions straightaway. He had been hurt by his treatment in the common room earlier but this team was still a family to him and this tower was still his home. However the words of the girl he had loved and the friend and leader that he had revered burned in his head all through the night.

_Things change...It's time to grow up..._


End file.
